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Pellissippi State Community College Librarian Shares Why Gale Resources are Successful

March 20, 2018March 21, 2017

| By Jennifer Mezick, Acquisitions and Collection Development Librarian Pellissippi State Community College |

At Pellissippi State Community College (PSCC), our users have access to many Gale resources through the Tennessee Electronic Library (TEL). Through our TEL setup we are able to track only statistics for PSCC users. From our statistics, we know that Gale resources are heavily used by PSCC patrons and there are a few reasons behind this success:

In Class Instruction
Our students primarily use the resources shown to them during class. PSCC librarians provided research instruction to 137 classes this past fall semester. PSCC librarians and teaching faculty find that students who receive in-class research instruction achieve higher grades on their research assignments. One of the lessons we present to students is the importance of finding background information before searching for journal articles. Opposing Viewpoints In Context is our go-to database for demonstrating background research. All the “In Context” databases contain Topic Pages for select topics, which provide histories and explain the different viewpoints of those topics or issues.

Faculty Outreach
Because not all of our faculty can find the time in a 5 to 16 week semester to have us in their classes, educating our faculty about our resources is the next best way to reach our students. Our faculty learn about Gale databases at our New Faculty Academy, where we introduce library resources, and at Faculty In-Service, where we demonstrate new databases or changes and new features to current databases. Librarians at PSCC are faculty and serve as subject liaisons. With this designation comes the responsibility to serve on campus academic committees and attend academic department meetings (and sometimes share after-work beers). Relationships with faculty are formed through these committees. I find that these relationships make faculty more comfortable talking with librarians about research assignments and available resources, which provides us the opportunity to recommend the most appropriate resources for their upcoming assignments (or their own research).

Irish Short Fiction: A Saint Patrick’s Day Review

March 20, 2018March 16, 2017

| By Eric Bargeron, Layman Poupard Publishing |

This Saint Patrick’s day, readers of Literature Criticism Online can distinguish themselves from the masses by eschewing green beer and shamrock kitsch, and contemplating instead the many contributions of Ireland to the world of literature. As critic Terence Brown notes in Short Story Criticism, volume 226, “it is scarcely a disputable fact of literary history that Irish prose fiction writers have been drawn to the short story form and have indeed excelled in it.” That volume, which is devoted entirely to Irish writers, includes a lengthy entry on James Joyce. His stories, all of which are contained in the collection Dubliners, are widely considered to be among the best in the English language. Joyce himself was fairly convinced of the importance of the book, even before its publication, as Morris Beja writes in his essay “One Good Look at Themselves”:

During their dispute over the problems in bringing out an edition of Dubliners, James Joyce wrote the publisher Grant Richards that ‘I seriously believe that you will retard the course of civilization in Ireland by preventing the Irish people from having one good look at themselves in my nicely polished looking-glass.’

Cornell Professor and Librarian Collaborate to Contribute to Gale Researcher

March 20, 2018March 13, 2017

Gale has partnered with Cornell College Professor of English Katy Stavreva to curate introductory British Literature content for Gale Researcher. In an article Cornell College’s News Center Stavreva describes the challenge of mapping out foundational content for the British Literature module, “This is no small challenge because the field is not only dynamic, but there are numerous ideologies and theories involved in deciding who and what may be foundational in it.”

Stavreva also collaborated with her Cornell colleagues to create content for Gale Researcher. Cornell Interim Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning and Consulting Librarian Jennifer Rouse contributed to the collection with the essay “The Literary Research Process.” A recent article on the Cornell College News Center goes into more detail about Gale Researcher and Stavreva’s contributions.

A Look Back at International Women’s Day Celebrations

March 8, 2017March 8, 2017

Today is International Women’s Day, a day to celebrate and recognize the achievements of bold and inspirational women who have enacted positive change in the world. Through the study of primary sources we can shed light on stories of powerful women who may have previously been largely ignored in public discourse.

American Civil Liberties Union Papers, 1912-1990 is “Rich” and “Absorbing”

April 16, 2018March 3, 2017

In recent years, decades-long movements in civil liberties have been at the forefront of the news. The struggle for civil rights and liberties defines our past and affects our present. Students and researchers can immerse themselves in civil rights history like never before with our new archive American Civil Liberties Union Papers, 1912-1990, part of the Making of Modern Law collection. Drawing from the records of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), it focuses on civil rights, race, gender, and issues relating to the U.S. Supreme Court—topics intensely relevant to today’s curriculum and debates at both national and local levels.

See what Henrietta Verma, Senior Editorial Communications Specialist at Library Journal, thinks of this groundbreaking archive:

The Woman Behind National Women’s History Month

March 20, 2018February 27, 2017

Our understanding of history shapes the way we see the world and helps us define who we are as individuals. When Molly Murphy MacGregor was asked to define the women’s movement by one of her high school students in 1972 her search for an answer not only redefined her view of the world but helped redefine the … Read more

The ACLU’s role in Brown v. Board of Education

March 20, 2018February 15, 2017

During Black History Month, we remember monumental events that have profoundly changed the United States and impacted the lives of many Americans. One key event in American history is the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954. In this Supreme Court case, public schools were ordered desegregated in a unanimous verdict. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) played an important role in Brown v. Board of Education, ensuring that “separate but equal” would no longer apply to educational facilities. Though public education was not fully desegregated by the decision, it began a series of legal victories for the burgeoning civil rights movement and defined constitutional support for racial equality.

Robert Smalls: From Slave to Senator

February 1, 2017

During Black History Month, we honor African Americans who made significant contributions to American society and impacted the course of American history. One such figure is Robert Smalls, who was born a slave in South Carolina, made a dramatic escape from slavery, and was later elected to Congress. With primary sources, Smalls’ remarkable life, achievements, and impact can be considered and understood through contemporary accounts.

Witness the March Towards Women’s Rights

January 23, 2017January 20, 2017

Introducing Women’s Movements and Issues – the first in the Women’s Studies Archive, a collection that traces the path of women’s issues from past to present—pulling primary sources from manuscripts, newspapers, periodicals, and more. It captures the foundation of women’s movements, struggles and triumphs, and provides researchers with valuable insights.

Evolution of Flight: A Recommended Resource

January 11, 2017

From the hot air balloons of yesteryear to the commercial airline carriers of today, mankind has always been fascinated by the concept of flight. Public interest in aviation peaked during the twentieth century, leading to rapid development of its corresponding technology. From this period of fervent focus emerged the celebrated pioneers of aviation: Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, Wiley Post, Jimmy Doolittle, Chuck Yeager, and many others, who forever changed the way humans interact with the world. Their theories, feats, and record-breaking efforts are all captured in Evolution of Flight, 1784-1991.

Drawing from the treasure trove of images, diaries, correspondence, scrapbooks, government documents, and other primary source materials available within the National Air and Space Museum Archives, the National Air and Space Museum Library, the Smithsonian Archives, and Smithsonian Libraries, this newest collection in the Smithsonian Collections Online series offers unparalleled insight into the era of aviation and its lasting impact on today’s society with content that spans more than two centuries, 1784-1991.

See how a reviewer feels about the collection of Primary Sources: